Any cyclist who has ridden for any length of time will inevitably have stories about drivers who crowd them and pass too closely. Most of the time, we just get angry, yell or shake our fist. Occasionally, something’s done which changes driver behavior. This is one of those stories.

I was talking to a client who cycles in the Lakeland/Bartow area. He had repeated instances where a rock truck crowded him. It seemed to be intentional; it was always the same driver. One day, he had his Go Pro camera on the bike. He captured the tag number and truck number, and got a picture of the driver. He sent it to the company. The company apparently did something about it. My client later met another person who drove for that company who said that “everybody” knew what had happened. My client never had another close call with that company’s trucks.

In another situation, on a route he regularly rode, a school bus repeatedly crowded him in violation of any minimum safe passing distance. Again, he recorded it on his Go Pro and sent it to the County. Amazingly, the activity stopped.

This is a great success story because (1) no one got injured and (2) attitude and conduct changed.

It’s always discouraging that drivers of any vehicle, particularly a large, dangerous commercial vehicle, would intentionally crowd or endanger a cyclist. If you’ve had a similar experience or heard of a similar situation, I’d like to hear about it. We’re looking for the success stories that don’t end up with someone being tragically injured.